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Thursday, March 28, 2013

It's coming everyone. Owen turns 1 on Tuesday. I know I haven't updated in a while, so I figured it is about time to do so. We have been very busy the past few months. Owen has been mobile and is crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into everything!

In mid-March, Kevin and I took our first trip away from Owen. Owen spent a few days with his Aunt Rebekah and Uncle David (his godparents). He absolutely loves them and their furry animals(they have a cat and a dog, both of which he was calling Bear while he was there). Kevin and I drove to Nashville and stayed at the Opryland Resort. It was absolutely gorgeous and we had a nice relaxing vacation. Plus escaping the snow and cold weather was nice! It was 75 degrees in Nashville when we were there!

When we came home, I caught a cold that has been kicking my butt and I've been trying my hardest not to give it to Owen, but of course, he ended up catching it. Last Friday I took him in to the pediatrician and she told me to just let it run it's course and there isn't much we can do for it. Saturday we went to my grandmother's house for Owen's FIRST Easter! We had such a fun time and my aunt Sue even planned an "easter egg hunt" for Owen (she filled easter eggs with coins and m&m's and scattered them around the floor). It was so cute to watch him crawl up and shake or throw the eggs.

This coming weekend we have two more Easter celebrations. Saturday we are going to Kevin's grandmother's house and Sunday we have the huge Krajnik celebration at our local Vets club. Sunday also marks the day that I was induced with Owen and spent the following 39 hours waiting and waiting (in agony of course) for him to make his grand entrance.

All this being said, I would like to touch on the subject of Congenital Heart Defects. Recently, Parents Magazine has published an article(I think it was only on their website) about CHD's, it's entitled "Mending Broken Hearts". The article was informative until you reached the section called "Preventing Heart Defects." I am sorry, but everything they say in that section is completely inaccurate. I know many, many, MANY heart moms that took prenatal vitamins and followed everything by the book (myself included) and still ended up with a heart baby. For the article to state that taking prenatals can prevent heart defects is a terrible lie. Here's the scoop. In most cases, there is no definite answer where or how the CHD came about. There is research going on trying to figure that out, but until then there is no way you can claim that heart defects can be prevented by taking a simple multivitamin.

As a heart mom, I am constantly under the microscope and asked things like "Is it a genetic defect?" or "What did you do wrong?". I didn't do anything wrong, and I have to tell myself that every day because I feel guilty and I will probably feel guilty for the rest of my life. When you find out you are having a child with CHD, it is earth shattering, I've also heard people say you go through stages much like the stages of grief. I completely agree. The stages are much like the stages of grief. You're grieving what your child will not be able to do and what they will face every day, every minute, every second for the rest of their life. Since we found out about Owen's heart defects there have been times where I was in such a dark place that I didn't want to do anything but lay in bed crying and feeling Owen kick. Now I am not trying to scare everyone, I'm just sharing the truth of what goes on "behind the scenes" of having a child with a heart defect. I must say in a years time, we have grown so much and been through so much. We have had major accomplishments, terrible setbacks, and everything in between, but we were able to get through it as a family. Owen is our whole world and life would never be the same without him.

Despite having had two open heart surgeries, a few hospital stays, and a cardiac cath in the past year, we are excited to say Owen's physical therapist, Joe, recently told us that Owen's development is right on track and he is testing at an 11 month old level! Also, I purchased our LAST can of formula last week. :) (I can't wait to say this about diapers!) And now for a few pictures!

(Also notice how great his skin looks! We saw the Dermatologist and he was diagnosed with Eczema and we started a regimen of creams/ointments and it cleared right up!)

He normally enjoys this! We managed to get a set of awesome pictures to torment him with when he is older! :)

Bear

About Me

Join my husband and I on our life changing journey as we deal with the ups and downs of our new baby with a congenital heart defect. This will be a chronicle of our life as it changes from just the two of us, to becoming a family.